Atletico Madrid won its Champions League group and matched its longest-ever winning run at home in all competitions by beating Lazio 2-0 on Wednesday.
Antoine Griezmann and Samuel Lino scored a goal in each half to give Atletico its 20th consecutive home win, a feat it hadn’t achieved since 2013.
The victory at the Metropolitano stadium saw Atletico finish top of Group E with 14 points, four points more than second-place Lazio. Last-place Celtic beat third-place Feyenoord 2-1 at home in the other group match.
Both Atletico and Lazio had already advanced to the knockout stage. A draw would also have been enough for Atletico to clinch first place and be among the seeded teams that will avoid other group winners in the next round.
Atletico hadn’t won its group since the 2016-17 season, when it eventually reached the semifinals and lost to city rival Real Madrid. Diego Simeone’s team was eliminated in the group stage last season, making it only the second time in 11 years that Atletico didn’t advance to the knockout rounds.
Lazio was trying to finish first in its group for the first time since the 1999-2000 season, when it made its debut in European soccer’s top club competition.
Set up by Lino, Griezmann’s low shot from near the penalty spot opened the scoring six minutes into the match. Lino added to the lead with a right-footed strike into the top corner in the 51st. Griezmann is now two goals shy of the 173 scored by Luis Aragonés, Atletico’s all-time leading scorer.
“It was (a) good match, we got the three points and first place, it’s what matters,” Lino said. “It was important to finish first as it will give us the advantage of playing the return match at home. It’s different when we play here, our fans motivate us to play great matches.”
Atletico’s run of 20 straight home wins goes back to a 1-1 draw against Getafe in the Spanish league in February. The last time it did this was also under Simeone’s command.
It was the 11th straight home win for Atletico this season. Only two other teams in the top five European leagues have won all home games this season — Aston Villa and Liverpool in the Premier League.
Atletico ended with 17 goals from its six group games, two more than its best-ever tally at this stage in the Champions League. It had scored 15 in 2013-14, when it went on to reach the final and lost to Madrid. Only Manchester City scored more goals in the group stage this season, with 18.
Atletico has scored 49 goals in its first 21 matches in all competitions this season, marking the team’s best scoring run to start a season under Simeone.
Atletico had a goal by Mario Hermoso disallowed by video review for offside near the end of the first half.
Comments
SHARE